A Day in the Life...10/13/10

I thought I'd jot down most of today's events, just for fun. Here's a typical, "uneventful" day in my life:

3:54am Toby wakes up screaming. His diaper has leaked, soaking his pajamas, sheets, and blankie. I sleepily change his diaper and jammies, but leave the sheets and blankie for morning--good enough, back to sleep.

7:18am Hannah wakes me, tapping me on the back, "I can't find my doggie pillow." I refuse to show sympathy.

7:24am Hannah takes matters into her own hands and brings a flashlight downstairs. I fly out of bed from fear that she will wake Toby, quickly douse the light, fish the doggie from under the covers, and escort Hannah upstairs, Emma follows.

7:33am Emma "helps" me get the juice from the fridge, but trips, drops the 64 oz juice bottle on the floor and hurts her toe. Thankfully the juice bottle remains intact.

7:40am Hannah heads to dress herself and Emma begins the long, arduous process of taking off her PJ's and dressing herself: "come out arm!" Which side of that pull-up goes in the front anyway? Get over my head you shirt! Oops, backwards. "I nee el ah-eee my ean! (I need help snapping my jeans!)"

7:54am I find a belt for Hannah that Naomi had once used when she was two. It's too big for Hannah's tiny little four-year old waist, but she wears it anyway.

7:58am Naomi appears as I'm placing a teal cupcake in Hannah's hair. She begins getting ready for school.

8:16am Hannah asks for a favorite cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats, and I have to remind her that it has gluten in it. I suggest Honey Nut Chex instead. "Do you have any Honey Nut Chex of Oats?" she asks, hopefully.

8:17am Toby cries. Downstairs he is still clinging to his pee-soaked blankie. He greets me with, "Want juice!" He is rewarded with a cup of juice, but will not relinquish the blankie.

8:22am I fix Naomi's hair and wipe her glasses clean. Hannah laughs, "Mommy, you put the wrong lid on Emma's cup. I look to see that I had indeed mixed two brands of sippy cups, oops.

8:25am Toby laughs as I struggle to pull a too-small shirt over his head. I note that I really need to get out Toby's larger clothes for the fall today.

8:30am I pull Naomi's lunch from the fridge and put it in her backpack. I fill her water bottle too while she munches some gluten-free frosted-flakes.

8:35am Naomi and I head out to the bus stop while Toby screams. He knows he's missing that big yellow bus, but Daddy holds him back.

8:39am I return to find Toby raiding the Cinnamon Chex on the kitchen table. Hannah announces, "I can't wait to go to kindergarten, Mommy."

8:47am I see Toby's blankie left alone and snatch it quickly away and downstairs to the washing machine along with his PJ's and sheets. I come back up with an armload of abandoned sippy cups bound for the dishwasher.

9:00am I drop an overdue thank-you note in the mailbox.

9:15am While Hannah and Emma save Princess Dora from various precarious scenarios and Toby empties out every toy in the toy bins, I alert Matt that he's on kid duty as I take a shower.

9:20am Toby has found me out and bangs on the bathroom door, "Mom-my! Mom-my! Mom-my!"

9:40am I rush downstairs, with Toby on my heels, to slip Toby's blanket into the dryer, and close the dryer door just as he shows up. "Nothing of interest in there, Toby, nothing at all."

9:42am Hannah places a pre-k workbook on a stool beside me and I help her learn beginning sounds of words while I spray the stains on shirt after shirt with "Shout". I take a short detour upstairs to wash some surprise poop out of a skirt.

9:45am I'm ambushed by Toby who has found himself a cereal bar and is demanding that I open it for him, "'nack, 'nack! (Snack)." I head downstairs and start that second load of wash, then escort Toby back upstairs and remind him to keep his snack in the kitchen.

10:15am I call my mom for a BBQ pork recipe and gain a ham-ball recipe as well. She also tells me that the miners are being pulled from the Chilean mine right now.

10:30am I attempt to find coverage of the miners' rescue on TV, but (as we don't have cable) I find only extreme sludge covering the break-up of some celebrity couple. I also discover that Emma has failed to use the potty and her pants have suffered.

10:40am I put the BBQ pork in the crock-pot and look up video of the miners' rescue online instead. Hannah,  (pants-less) Emma, and I all cry happy tears together as we watch clips of rescue after rescue. We love a happy news story, but Toby doesn't, and climbs on my lap, screaming for my attention.

11:20am I confine Toby to his high-chair so I can fix some lunch. He is appeased by a banana, and I fix some fruit salad and personal pizzas on gluten-free English muffins for lunch.

12:05pm We sit down together for lunch and Hannah announces, "I love my mommy sooo much because she makes these good foods for me...and she took me to a surgery!" I can always count on her to boost my self-esteem.

12:20pm I realize that Toby has been confined for a full hour now and he's fussing for a good reason. I attempt to wipe the pizza sauce out of his hair and release him.

12:40pm I put Toby down for a nap with his freshly clean sheets and blankie.

12:45pm I switch the laundry again and start a third load.

1:00pm I take a Vanilla Coke break to check my Facebook account.

1:35pm The pediatric GI doctor's office calls and tells me that Hannah's biopsy does confirm a diagnosis of Celiac disease.

1:55pm Hannah renews her interest in her workbook and I help her sound out middle and ending sounds as I load the dishwasher with yesterday's dishes.

2:10pm Hannah puts together the sounds of three letters she recognizes: d, o, and g. A light comes into her eyes and she says, "du-aw-gu...dog!" She tries the next word, "pu-ih-gu...pig!" "I'm reading!" she says with excitement, "I'm reading!" It is such a great moment I have to get my camera and record it.

2:40pm I begin baking a batch of gluten-free bread while Hannah and Emma watch with curiosity. Hannah remarks, "Learning is hard, I don't think that's what school would be like. School is fun."

3:30pm I set the bread on the oven to rise, and clean up the mess I had made while measuring and mixing.

3:40pm I realize that I need to run and get Naomi from the bus stop and that Emma's still not wearing pants. I call to Hannah to put her shoes on, zip Emma up in some pajamas, slap sandals on her, and dash to the bus stop in the drizzle. We arrive just as the bus is pulling up.

3:48pm We come home and hear that Toby's fussing in his crib. I retrieve him and change his diaper.

3:52pm I pull apart the pork in the crock-pot and pour the rest of the BBQ sauce over it.

3:55pm I spend five minutes searching for Emma's sippy cup and find it in a back-pack. I dole out Nesquick and milk, fruit snacks, and gluten-free grahams for snack.

4:03pm Emma wants help opening her yogurt, the timer beeps signaling the end of the bread rising cycle, and the phone rings.  Aaggghhh!

4:08pm Two loaves of bread in oven, and I open the yogurt for Emma.

4:10pm I clean out Naomi's lunch box and pack a lunch for her for tomorrow.

4:40pm I lead Hannah and Emma in a toy clean-up campaign while Naomi does her homework.

4:58pm Pull bread from the oven.

5:05pm Change Toby's diaper again.

5:15pm I set the table and slice into the wonderfully yummy smelling bread, only to discover that both loaves are at least half-empty inside, with dense, unrisen bread collapsed on the bottom and an enormous air pocket on top. What the heck?

5:42pm We sit down to dinner and enjoy BBQ pork sandwiches with baked beans and corn. All enjoy it despite the unconventional bread.

6:05pm Matt and I clean-up from dinner. I propose a video reward if all the girls can manage to get their PJ's on and brush their teeth. Hannah helps Emma with her PJ's and Naomi passes out the toothbrushes.

6:25pm We bathe Toby to rid his hair of pizza sauce and give him a much needed haircut while everyone enjoys a Berenstein Bears video.

7:00pm We bathe Toby again to rid him of hair clippings.

7:20pm I put Toby to bed with a cup of soy milk, while Matt sings a Psalm and prays with the girls.

8:05pm All kids are in bed, but quite chatty down there.

8:45pm Kids are quiet now, but Naomi comes up to tell me that her ankles are hurting again. I give her some Tylenol and send her back to bed.

9:00pm Matt and I settle down to watch part three of PBS's "God in America." (I multi-task and work on my blog while watching it).

Very soon, time for bed. Even uneventful days are tiring, and I just realized that I never did get out Toby's new fall wardrobe. Maybe tomorrow...